1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a cooling apparatus using a magnetocaloric effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cooling apparatus using heat exchange between a refrigerant, such as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) or hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), and air generated during condensation and evaporation of the refrigerant has been widely used in domestic and industrial fields. However such a refrigerant causes environmental problems, such as destruction of an ozone layer and global warming. For this reason, various new type cooling apparatuses replacing the cooling apparatus using the refrigerant are now under study.
A typical cooling apparatus replacing the cooling apparatus using the refrigerant is a magnetic cooling apparatus. The magnetic cooling apparatus is a cooling apparatus using a magnetocaloric effect. Specifically, the magnetic cooling apparatus uses heat exchange between a magnetic material and air generated due to change of a magnetic field.
In a conventional magnetic cooling apparatus, at least one magnetic regenerator including a magnetic material rotates or reciprocates between inside and outside a magnet to cause change in temperature of the magnetic material included in the magnetic regenerator. In addition, a motor is used to rotate or reciprocate the magnetic regenerator.
However, it may be difficult to minimize the size of the magnetic cooling apparatus using the motor as a power source and the magnetic cooling apparatus has low energy efficiency.
In addition, in the conventional magnetic cooling apparatus, heat loss is generated during circulation of a heat transfer fluid in the magnetic cooling apparatus including a high-temperature side heat exchanger, a low-temperature side heat exchanger, and the magnetic regenerator.